~~~The Lightning Lucian Bute Battleship~~~

That doesn't make sense. It would be a travesty. Bika wants the HBO shot at Bute's IBF. Why should he let Brinkley take it?

 

People say "Romania", as if it were plague-infested. Sure, Romania doesn't have a proper, 20-thousand indoor seater...but...the thing about the Bute fight in Romania is this: if would have HBO airing the fight and it would give Bute's likely opponent a career high payday. Any way you look at it, that is a hell of a deal for anyone.

 

The only reason would be $ and the chance to be the next one to face Bute.
I know Bika wants badly to avenge his loss against Bute. That's probably the main reason he didn't jump in the super 6.

In addition, I'm not sure Brinkley would be enough for HBO.

 

Exactly. Why wait for an eliminator against an extra tough opponent like, say, Andrade, when you can fight for the title straight away, on HBO, for a career-high pay-day? Bika would have to be nuts not to take it. And as you say, HBO would not agree to Brinkley when the alternative was Bika.

 

I just hope that Brinkley is not next.

 

As hard-core Bute fans, we would have the right to feel very pissed off if it were Brinkley next. I, for one, would boycott the fight: wouldn't write about it, wouldn't read about it, wouldn't watch it, assuming Bika was available.

 

Don't put everyone in the same basket Decebal...I now see you're a little sensitive about it, it's alright.

There's nothing wrong with Romania... There's no certainty HBO will air it and you know that. It's not because it's in Romania, but mainly because of the time scale difference to air the fight of a guy that's still not that popular within the HBO borders, against possibly a somewhat ordinary mandatory...

 

HBO airs fights from the UK and from Germany. Romania is only 1 - 2 hours off. No biggie; it would be on delay anway. I'm not so much sensitive, because I agree that Romania doesn't have the facilities to do a Bute fight justice, but I am a bit bemused - people think it's much worse than it actually is. Anyway, that is immaterial to my argument.

There's no certainty that HBO would air it even if it were in Montreal. But they said that they would be happy to follow Bute in Romania for his next fight, so there is no reason for me to assume that they wouldn't, particularly if Bute fights Bika, with a decent undercard (say Jo Jo Dan vs. Olusegun in the WBC eliminator and another couple of good fights showcasing non-Romanian/Canadian up-and-coming fighters.)

 

Great if HBO wants to bring a team over to Romania cause that means they are seriously investing in Bute. In this case, it has nothing to do with facilities as far as I'm concerned. Sure they would go to the UK and Germany but for big enough fights they know will normally draw quite a bit to watch back home...

The initial comment about Romania was about possibly having trouble to lure in good competition to travel in Europe to fight, if that said competition is from North America...it's nothing new unfortunately. Obviously money talks, therefore anything's still possible. :thumbsup

 

Some people also said HBO would never come to Montreal...
It all depends of the opponent. Of course, the time delay is a factor but with a good opponent, that's possible. Maybe a BAD or the first bout of a final presented in USA.

 

They don't have to bring Americans over. They can do a split event - US up and comers fighting in the USA and then the main event from Romania, on delay. No biggie. The main problem is whether Bute will be able to attract a decent enough opponent for HBO not to have to say NO.

 

There you go..:deal

 

...and with Bika seemingly available, here's Bute's chance.

No excuses!:thumbsup

 

I am a big Bute fan, to say the least, but I would say that Bute is not amongst the Top 10 best fighters yet. Top 20 - almost certainly, Top 15 - maybe, but Top 10, I don't think so....

There are some 15 or so other fighters that seem to have a better claim: e.g.:

Pacquaio, Mayweather, W Klitschko, V Klitschko, Bradley, Montiel, Hasegawa, Donaire, Darchinyan, Adamek, Marquez, Martinez, Williams, Dawson, Mosley, Haye... in no particular order.

...and I haven't even included the likes of Cotto, Margarito, Calderon, etc.

But in a year or two, I think Bute will be in the Top 10.

 

I really hope Stieglitz-Bute happens, even if L.B. makes no money with it.